Barrow Fields pavva mauragak

Her steps faded behind him.

He stopped, turned, saw the dullness of her eyes. The splintering of something between them. It was not something Kigipigak had taken in to account; that she would feel so deeply for him and see something wrong in the way of the world — his world.

No, his mother's world. Why did he cling to this so strongly?

You must choose. Now. She called to him.

The rest of Moonglow was some ways ahead, likely put-off by the conversation the two shared that they could not understand. Kigipigak had stopped because moon-woman had stopped, and now he looked at her incredulously.

What? Why would she demand this choice from him now? Now, he was a man of Moonglow. Now, he could work hard for Moonglow and protect the family he had made within the village. Now, Kigipigak could live as if Tartok was far away from him.

I do not want to war with the village. I want to protect it. You do not understand what you are asking of me, forcing me to choose. He had never made such a decision before — nothing was truly ever his own choice, from leaving Unnuakvik to joining with Greymoor, to Moonglow, to now.

Let us go home. Please. He turned, refusing to look at her, trying to calm himself for the long road ahead. He did not get far, seeing as Kukutux was alone now in the snow, surrounded by the barrow hills; he could not leave the village leader in good conscience.